A Few Blonde Strands and Some Thoughts
by Kat Spencer
Summary: Jack wakes to find something on his pillow that makes him smile…and think.


Title: A Few Blonde Strands…and Some Thoughts

Author: Kat Spencer

Disclaimer: I don't own them (though Daniel would be nice) : O)

Summary: Jack wakes to find something on his pillow that makes him smile…and think.

A/N: One shot that came to me while brushing my teeth…fluffiness…sweet…

Jack O'Neill's alarm sounded loudly. He groaned and made a move to turn it off. It crashed to the floor and stopped its assault on his ears in one fluid movement of his hand. Jack opened his eyes slowly. They adjusted to the bright light streaming through the windows. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

He stretched his arms over his head and looked over at the place in bed beside his. The dark blue sheets were messy, but the thing that caught his eye was the pillow that he hadn't been using. Not the pillow itself, but what lay on the pillow. Three blonde strands of hair lay on it. Short, blonde strands.

These few strands made him smile. They were here on his pillow, three little strands, _hers_, on his pillow (well though, he guessed now it was her pillow…no, their pillow). It was something that months ago he could have only dreamed of. Now those little reminders made him smile, made him realize how lucky he really was.

The shower was now running; she would only be five or ten minutes. It hadn't taken long to get a routine together. He could always count on her to be up before the alarm went off; he could afford to sleep in now.

Jack rose and made the bed, careful not to knock away the hairs. He made his way to the kitchen where he put on the coffee maker. He went back to his bedroom where he turned on the TV to catch the morning news. But instead of listening to it, he thought of her…Sam, _his_ Sam.

Yup, she was his, all his. Don't get him wrong, he didn't think of her as some piece of property. She was better than that. She was his, a part of him, something he held closer than life itself. She was his, finally. She was his. Always.

Jack thought of the moment months ago: eight months, four days, give or take a few hours. He remembered the day well. He had made a surprise visit to the SGC, though his motives were purely selfish.

He came there to see her. Okay, Teal'c and Daniel too. The two were his best friends, but mostly to see her. He knew two said friends couldn't have held it against him. He loved her.

So, he had come to see her…

"Sir, what brings you here?" Sam asked as she looked up and saw him standing in her open doorway. A smile played on her lips. She was surprised to see him. His visits to the SGC had been few since taking up his job in Washington. That had been almost two years ago.

"Oh, you know…desk job gets kinda boring. Just thought I'd come and see the old stomping grounds." She nodded and he stepped into her lab and stood across from her.

"How are things here?" he asked.

"Fine, fine," Sam told him. "And you?" she wondered.

"Great…okay not great, but it's life," he shrugged.

She smiled. He had missed that. "Have any plans for lunch? Daniel and T are busy," he told her.

"No, I don't."

"Great, want to go out for lunch?"

"Sure, let me put a few things away and then I'll sign out."

They shared lunch at O'Malley's, his treat. He had insisted, and she had let him.

Jack and Sam left the restaurant and headed back to his truck. "Hey, Carter?" Jack asked as they stopped at his passenger side; he was about to open the door for her.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"What if I told you-ahh, what the-" he said as he took her face in his hands and kissed her soundly. Sam didn't pull away she kissed him back! Her right hand reached his face and found a place at the nape of his neck. Moments later, the two pulled apart.

"Sir?" she asked quietly as he rested his forehead against hers.

"No more 'sir', Carter," he told her.

"What?" she asked as she stepped away from him to get a better look into his eyes.

"No more 'sir'. I retired two days ago. I asked them to keep it quiet until I had a chance to tell my team," Jack shrugged. "I wanted to tell you first."

"Say something, Carter," he told her as they stood staring at each other, which to him felt like an eternity.

"What does that mean for us?" she asked.

"I thought I had made that clear," he said.

"Well…I might need some more help with that," she told him, a smiled tugging at her lips, which he kissed again.

Sam cleared her throat. "You know what else that means?"

"What?"

"No more Carter."

"That's right, Sam," Jack smiled as he hugged her.

"Jack," she said as they pulled apart.

"I don't think I'll ever get over hearing you say my name," he told her.

"You either," she said.

"Sam?"

"Jack?"

He cleared his throat. He hadn't envisioned it happening like this, but he hadn't envisioned falling in love with his 2IC either.

"I love you," he told her.

Sam smiled, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "I love you too," she smiled.

He grinned back.

Jack smiled at the memories.

One month after he had retired Jack O'Neill found himself standing at an alter. Daniel and Teal'c by his side, Cassie walked down the isle first, and then Sam. A vision in white, she was beautiful. The small ceremony had few guests; they didn't need some huge ceremony. Just a huge cake…and blue jell-o…and red jell-o…and even some purple jell-o.

He smiled at those memories too. Jack was happy. Truly, amazingly happy, for the first time in a long time. He knew she was happy; she told him just about everyday.

Though, now he also knew that her job was making her antsy, as it had made him his last three years while with the Air Force. Now she was the one who had to sit on the sidelines and watch her team go through the gate. Though, he knew that she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hey," she said as she opened the bathroom door. She stood in the doorway in a black long-sleeved shirt and green issued pants. He had come to recognize it as 'Sam's unofficial uniform' over the years. Something was very different about it now.

"Morning," he waved. She laughed.

"What?"

"That hair," she said as she came to stand in front of him. She put a hand through his unruly, 'sticky-up' hair (as she called it).

"Oww, hold on," he told her as he got up from his place. He slipped into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

When he came out he found Sam in the kitchen, drinking orange juice. He smiled as he sat down. She placed her cup on the table and smiled down at him.

"Come 'mere," he told her, pulling her into his lap.

He put his hand on her growing belly. In six months time their two would grow to three. He smiled as she kissed him softly. "I love you, Jack," she told him.

"Love you too, Sweetie," he replied.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Always. You?"

"Always," she smiled.

"Always?"

"Jack."

"Sam."

The End!


End file.
